Question

Q:
OutLook Express Error 0x800C0133.

I am suddenly unable to download emails from my ISP into my Inbox as of the 31st March at 9.40pm Western Australian Time. The emails that are in my Inbox are no longer opening, but I can still read them in the window pane and they are not deleting from
my inbox when I delete them. Also when I click on a new email a box comes up stating "A receipt could not be sent for this email", but it isn't requesting one. I have tried restarting OE, nothing changed. I have rebooted my computer and restarted OE, again
nothing changed. I removed all emails from Inbox and restarted OE, but I am still unable to download emails from ISP. I am also now not able to move anything in any of my files. I am using Windows XP Business. Please help.
*** Email address is removed for privacy ***

Answer

A:

Ann

You have posted to the wong forum. Outlook Express is not Microsoft Outlook. It is likely that the message and this reply and any others will be moved to the correct forum by a moderator.

The reason you are most likely seeing a 0x800C0133 is that you have a corrupted Inbox.dbx file. The inability to delete could be because of the corrupted inbox.dbx or because you also have a corrupted deleted item.dbx file. The two commonfactors causing
corrupting are overlarge dbx files and interupting the compaction process before it has completed.

Your Inbox and Sent Items folders should only hold messages awaiting relocation until you move them on. Do not have any sub-folders of the Inbox. In the next paragraph I describe a way to help to reduce the retention of messages in the two system created
folders, which are so prone to folder corruption and loss of messages.

In Outlook Express place the cursor on Local Folders and select File, Folder, New and name your new Folder. AAInbox and AASent may suit your requirements. Move any messages from your Inbox and your Sent Items folders to the newly created Local Folders.
Repeat the process if you have created any sub-folders of either folder.

You will still need to watch the overall size of individual folders, as too large a folder results in the system struggling to handle the folder. File corruption occurs most often when the compaction process is interrupted or if any read or write to
file is taking place when Outlook Express is closed abruptly. This tends to happen more often with over large files. Others define a maximum file size by specifying a size e.g. 300mb as part of their recommendation. In my view this can be misleading as the
size can be significantly less. It all depends on the capacity of the system to handle large files.

You can control the Compacting process by doing it at a time that suits you at any time before the count reaches 100.

In Outlook Express place the cursor on Local Folders and select File, Work Offline followed by File, Folder, Compact All. Do not attempt to interrupt or stop the process until it has completed. Close Outlook Express when it has completed but do not
rush closure as changes will still be being made for a period after the compaction process appears to have completed.

After compacting, check your Outlook Express folders are as they should be. Then select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Run Disk Defragmenter.

I suspect you will need to go further to correct your problem and delete the existing inbox after you have moved your messages and the deleted items folders. See the bit about Messages in the Inbox disappear in the next link:http://www.insideoe.com/problems/bugs.htm#mailgone